Grounds Maintenance Apprenticeship

Summary

As part of a longstanding team, you will be responsible for a range of high-quality landscape maintenance services to our range of commercial clients.

Wage

Competitive

Competitive wage offered

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The salary is subject to experience and will be above the apprenticeship minimum wage. Overtime is offered at x1.5 per hour. There is usually overtime during peak season.

Training course

Horticulture or landscaping supervisor (level 3)

Hours

Monday – Friday 7am – 4pm with overtime available in peak season, paid at x1.5 hours. Saturday hours every other week in peak season are also required.

40 hours a week

Start date

Monday 1 September 2025

Duration

1 year 8 months

Positions available

1

Work

Most of your apprenticeship is spent working. You’ll learn on the job by getting hands-on experience.

What you'll do at work

Typical horticultural duties will include grass cutting, hedge cutting, spraying, planting with additional opportunity within sports turf management, dependent on experience and/or interest.

Key Requirements:

Passionate about working in the outdoors and the work being carried out
Driven, enthusiastic and self-motivated
A strong team player with the ability to work with colleagues but also independently when required
Experience with working with horticultural equipment
Qualifications in Horticulture preferred
Spraying Certificated – NPTC PA1 and PA6 preferred, but not essential and training can be provided
A full, clean UK driving licence

Where you'll work

The employer work location is: Great Houghton Lodge Farm, Great Houghton, Northampton, NN4 0AN. You will be working at multiple location addresses, working at varying sites.

Training

Apprenticeships include time away from working for specialist training. You’ll study to gain professional knowledge and skills.

College or training organisation

WARWICKSHIRE COLLEGE

Your training course

Horticulture or landscaping supervisor (level 3)

Understanding apprenticeship levels (opens in new tab)

What you'll learn

Course contents

Plan and implement horticultural activities using techniques to protect and enhance the environment, biodiversity or heritage.
Plan and implement environmental mitigation measures for horticultural tasks, including protecting sites (for example aquatic environments, soils, plants, structures) from horticultural works, waste management planning, hazardous waste and pollution controls.
Plan the care of plants in different environments, including suitability for the site and providing irrigation and nutrition.
Identify biosecurity threats for a horticultural site (including main pests or diseases and their identification features) and implement and communicate phytosanitary and biosecurity procedures for the site in line with legal requirements.
Apply scientific plant naming conventions (including genus and species) to identify plants via physical inspection and without assistive resources.
Plan and implement planting activities in context of the stock type/ species and planting environment.
Assess hard structure or surface, evaluate hazards, damage and faults and rectify, report or maintain as required.
Assess soil type and quality (imported or natural), identify soil condition and recommend management regimes as required and appropriate to the site, including the prevention of damage from traffic and works.
Identify basic health threats and hazards for established trees.
Plan, quantify materials and implement turf or species-rich meadow surface installation.
Plan and supervise vegetation control (including formative, regenerative and maintenance pruning), selecting methods and equipment.
Implement project management skills, including project processes, planning and specifications.
Use digital tools to solve problems, plan, collaborate, communicate and keep records.
Develop a work plan to a specification.
Communicate using verbal and written communication skills.
Establish safe systems of work and comply with health, safety and welfare legislation, including basic risk assessment.
Supervise others (staff or volunteers ), including motivation, work prioritisation, quality, problem-solving, capability for task, establishing a safety culture and resource deployment.
Manage use of tools and machinery on site (including safety and record keeping) and carry out selection appraisals.
Use and maintain irrigation system (hose and lance, drip, sprinkler or rotary system) to ensure accurate and timely water application.
Plan a programme of plant pest and disease controls in line with Integrated Pest Management principles. Spraying of pesticides and or fertilisers or non-chemical alternatives.
Select propagation methods and plan and implement propagating plants by seed and vegetative methods in an indoor or outdoor context.
Assess a horticultural area, develop an annual maintenance programme and undertake maintenance activities.
Assess turf or species-rich meadow quality and plan and implement the maintenance, repair and renovation of ornamental turf areas.
Prune or train a climber, shrub and tree using specialist pruning and or training techniques to maintain plant health and achieve design or functional objectives.
Select work method and plan and undertake the application of a range of landscape construction materials to a specification, including brick laying, paving, timber features; construct horizontal and vertical features.
Install a service into a landscape, for example lighting conduits, irrigation or draining.
Measure and set out a site with several features and levels from a construction drawing.
Plan and implement landscaping activities for a non-complex landscape construction project, including interpreting job specification and construction drawings, estimating materials required, planning resource allocation (human and physical), work quality and health and safety considerations.
Survey site for landscape construction, including presence of services, drainage, plantings, features, protected areas and hazards.
Plan and implement horticultural activities using techniques to protect and enhance the environment, biodiversity or heritage.
Plan and implement environmental mitigation measures for horticultural tasks, including protecting sites (for example aquatic environments, soils, plants, structures) from horticultural works, waste management planning, hazardous waste and pollution controls.
Plan the care of plants in different environments, including suitability for the site and providing irrigation and nutrition.
Identify biosecurity threats for a horticultural site (including main pests or diseases and their identification features) and implement and communicate phytosanitary and biosecurity procedures for the site in line with legal requirements.
Apply scientific plant naming conventions (including genus and species) to identify plants via physical inspection and without assistive resources.
Plan and implement planting activities in context of the stock type/ species and planting environment.
Assess hard structure or surface, evaluate hazards, damage and faults and rectify, report or maintain as required.
Assess soil type and quality (imported or natural), identify soil condition and recommend management regimes as required and appropriate to the site, including the prevention of damage from traffic and works.
Identify basic health threats and hazards for established trees.
Plan, quantify materials and implement turf or species-rich meadow surface installation.
Plan and supervise vegetation control (including formative, regenerative and maintenance pruning), selecting methods and equipment.
Implement project management skills, including project processes, planning and specifications.
Use digital tools to solve problems, plan, collaborate, communicate and keep records.
Develop a work plan to a specification.
Communicate using verbal and written communication skills.
Establish safe systems of work and comply with health, safety and welfare legislation, including basic risk assessment.
Supervise others (staff or volunteers ), including motivation, work prioritisation, quality, problem-solving, capability for task, establishing a safety culture and resource deployment.
Manage use of tools and machinery on site (including safety and record keeping) and carry out selection appraisals.

Your training plan

The college training will take the form of masterclass delivery. There will be a series of masterclasses in blocks of 2 days at a time throughout the course.

Requirements

Essential qualifications

GCSE in:

3 G.C.S.Es including Maths, English and Science (grade 4/C)

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
Attention to detail
Organisation skills
Problem solving skills
Team working
Physical fitness

Other requirements

Working outside in all weather conditions. DBS check required. Full, clean driving licence.

About this company

WeedWise was founded in 2000 by Agronomist, Will Pinnock, with a simple mission – deliver best in class Grounds Management solutions, coupled with excellent client care. From a deep understanding of Agronomy and land-based services, WeedWise has developed to become a leading Commercial Grounds Maintenance and Vegetation Management business in the Midlands. We’re family owned and operate a longstanding and incredibly effective team of operatives, that all share the same ethos as we do. We value our multi-sector client base and are proud to operate across a wide variety of sites throughout the UK.

After this apprenticeship

For the right candidate, there is the potential to offer a full-time job after the apprenticeship.

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